Last week, I wrote about my moment of panic over possibly publicly over-sharing the details of our infertility.  The amount of support from you all through your comments was amazing, and I thank you –I know I should not regret my decision to talk publicly about infertility and IVF.  Still, putting myself out there like that is terrifying and, for the most part, any discussion outside our family about our infertility has been kept to this blog.  Sure, my posts get shared and liked around Facebook but, unless people happen to catch my most recent post on their newsfeeds, I imagine there are a lot of my friends –both casual and close –who still don’t know about this journey we embarked on almost exactly a year ago.

That is, until later in the week, when I made this photo my new Facebook cover photo :

There it is, in black and white, with that red arrow pointing right at my profile picture.  I am the One In Eight.  I am the Someone You Know.  And if you didn’t know that before, maybe you do now.

And I’m okay with that.  Because, chances are, you or someone you know is also struggling with infertility or reproductive health issues.  I mean, one in eight?  That’s like me saying “one in eight of my friends live in a blue house.”  Or, “one in eight children probably won’t eat their veggies at dinner tonight.”  It’s that common.  Only, it’s also just as common that those one in eight won’t talk about it.  I get it, and I empathize with you –it’s a very private, kinda scary topic.  But we need to talk about it, to bring more awareness to the topic, so that the Someone You Know feels less alone, so that the One In Eight gets better care, a bigger voice in Congress, or greater hope for a family of their own.

So I challenge you, readers and friends, infertility sufferers and supporters alike, to go get your own Facebook cover photo for National Infertility Awareness Week, April 21-27, here, and learn more about how infertility affects 73 million people and how you can support the One In Eight in your life here.  It may be scary to have that red arrow pointing at your profile picture –but you won’t be alone.